Sunday, December 31, 2006

Universal Healthcare Part II

In the previous post I mentioned briefly the technological differences between the US and Canada and attempted to demonstrate them by showing how much more common diagnostic technology is in America vs. her northern neighbor.

I thought I would follow that up.

See... techonolgically speaking largely Canada is 20 years behind the US. Things that the US uses MRI's for, are diagnosed with CT scans in Canada. Depending on your level of knowledge that may or may not seem particularly disturbing to you... but it definately should be.

And consider this... As of today, there are only 3 Gamma Knives in all of Canada.

So... if you are unfortunate enough to have a small brain tumor in Canada... you'll probably die before you get the MRI that shows it... but if you do survive, you'll probably die before you get your turn under the gamma knife that will zap it away. If not.. you'll be forced to travel a long long way to actually have the surgery.

By contrast... in the US... you find MRI's in tiny hospitals in tiny towns... and you find Gamma Knives in places like Morgantown, West Virginia.

The first Gamma Knife operated in the United States in 1987.

Canada got its first Gamma Knife in 2003.

Just to reiterate.... Gamma Knife surgery is available in every state in the US. While there are only 3 in all of Canada.

These are specific examples supplied to demonstrate just one of the fatal weaknesses of so-called universal healthcare. What you'll find is, they exist across the board. In every area of healthcare technology, from computerized records to anesthesia machines toMRIs to Gamma Knives Canada is almost 20 years behind consistantly.

Friday, December 29, 2006

Government HealthcareLets begin by calling a spade a spade. The term universal healthcare sounds better, but what it means is Government Healthcare. Proponents don't like to use that term though, because it sounds bad. Why? Because the general perception in America is that something produced by the government is inferior to that which is produced privately. Take a walk through a few VA hopsitals. Compare the US Postal Service to FedEx. You'll find the perception is well earned.

But now that we have our terms straight lets examine the real question. Should America adopt Government Healthcare?

Its a bit of a trick question of course, because we largely already have through Medicare, Medicaid, and state programs like TnCare. But lets look at it... and why don't we use our neighbor to the north, as proponents of Government Healthcare love their system so much.

Let's start with a quote:"I spent two years and more trying to locate a regular doctor to manage my mother's declining health. I did not find one in time... the public should be aware that if we do not return to a favorable doctor-to-patient ratio in this country soon... we will be sold short and people will die before it is really their time." - Norm Richards

Canada is running painfully low on doctors. Why? Several reasons, the largest of which are time and money. Young people simply aren't choosing to be doctors in Canada because the work hours, educational investment, and time commitment don't balance out with the pay. Doctors are starting to be seen as martyrs.

There was a canadian kid that went through residency with my wife. He loved Canada and desperately wanted to go back there, but wouldn't. He told me he loved being a doctor to much to go home.

Enough of that silliness. Lets have some hard numbers.

There are 2.1 doctors per 1000 people in Canada. There are 2.8 doctors per 1000 people in the US.

Nurses in the US make an average of 50% more than Nurses in Canada. Doctors earn 100% more on average. On top of that, canadians face a tax rate that is nearly double that of the US.

Canada has 4.6 MRI scanners per million people. The US has 19.5.

Canada has 10.3 CT scanners per million people. The US has 29.5. Think about that. In terms of availability, its easier to get an MRI in the US than it is to get a CT in Canada.

American women are 30% more likely to develope breast cancer than Canadian women, but the Canadian mortality rate for breast cancer is higher. Its not just breast cancer. In every case Americans are more likely to develope cancer, and in almost every case, the American mortality rate is lower, in spite of the fact that in Canada everyone has a health insurance card.

You see in America we have more doctors, more nurses, and more technology. In Canada they have more insurance cards. I don't know about you but I've never been treated or diagnosed by an insurance card.

What compounds the Canadian problem even worse is the very thing that so many love about it. Its cost to the patient. Its free. That's great right?

Well no. No not really its not great. Because when something is free, its abused. You scraped your knee? Better go to the ER and have it looked at. Why not? Its free. Why not take an ambulance ride there? Again... its free.

The Candian HealthCare System looks great on the surface, but a deeper look reveals a rotting corpse that's bankrupting the country and threatening to finally collapse completely. The plain truth is the government just can't afford to keep the system up and running. Canadian news services are widely declaring the system broken beyond repair.

Its true... in Canada everyone has equal access to healthcare; practically none.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Christian DefenseEvery once in a while I get an email from one of you folks that really strikes a nerve. Like today...

See... I started this blog because I was asked to... over and over and over by the folks over at Vox's. I was reluctant... especially since I viewed the Blogosphere with a certain disdain. See... the blogosphere is made up of millions of people with nothing to say, hell bent on saying it.

I didn't want to be one of them.

Then I realized... I had something to say.

That something is this...

Men... Christians... Parents... You have a God Given Right, and a Civic Responsibility to defend yourself. You should own, and be well trained in the use of firearms.

Guns are tools... neither good nor bad. See.... good or bad... that only applies to people's behavior. Set a loaded gun on a table and it will sit there forever. It will never harm anyone. At least not until someone comes along and picks it up.

Fun thing about guns. Someone has to pull the trigger.

And yes... turning the other cheek is a profoundly Christian behavior. Its one I support and choose often. However... its not a luxury you have when the safety of your family is on the line.

In Luke 22.... Christ is giving his disciples advice before they go out into the world... I recommend paying attention to Luke 22:36

"Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."

What do you suppose Christ meant those swords to be used for?

There is only one conclusion a student can reach; the defense of those who cannot defend themselves.

I submit that if you are a Christian it is your duty to responsibly keep firearms in your home, if not on your person.

I submit that if you are a citizen of the State of Tennessee, or the United States, it is your civic duty to keep military servicable weapons in your home, lest you be called on empty-handed.

"The provision in the Constitution granting the right to all persons to bear arms is a limitation upon the power of the Legislature to enact any law to the contrary. The exercise of a right guaranteed by the Constitution cannot be made subject to the will of the sheriff. [People vs. Zerillo, 219 Mich. 635, 189 N.W. 927, at 928 (1922)]"

Or not.

I have a legal Concealed Carry License. That fact however, does not mean I think the government has the right to require to have one.

It means in this case.. its easier just to get one and be done with it. The class was fun, and informative from a legal standpoint.

Friday, December 22, 2006

The Legend of the Rebel Soldier

In a dreary Yankee prison where a rebel soldier layBy his side there stood a preacher ere his soul should pass awayAnd he faintly whispered parson, as he clutched him by the handOh parson, tell me quickly, will my soul pass through the Southland?

Will my soul pass through the Southland, through Old Virginia grand?Will I see the hills of Georgia, and the green fields of Alabam?Will I see the little churchhouse, where I pledged my heart and hand?Oh parson, tell me quickly, will my soul pass through the Southland?

Was for loving dear old Dixie, in this dreary cell I lieWas for loving dear old Dixie, in this Northern State I dieWill you see my little daughter, will you make her understand?Oh parson, tell me quickly, will my soul pass through the Southland?

Then the Rebel Soldier died.

This is a traditional Confederate song... adapted by an Irish Confederate solider held captive... perhaps at one of the Yankee Slaughter Houses that made Andersonville look like a summer resort.

Please note there isn't one line about slavery.

The army didn't fight for hate. They fought for love. And that their banner is shamed... is shame indeed.

That's SpecialSo folks are celebrating Festivus... No doubt they will be criticisized for celebrating a fake holiday... no doubt some of the critics will think Kwanza is authentic.

Anyway... there is no way to really know when festivus is.. seinfeld wasn't specific. We assume its the 24th but we don't know. And why did they choose the 23rd anyway? Wasn't it really just to compete with Christmas? The pole obviously pays omage to the traditional tree, and wasn't even the original symbol anyway. Originally it was a clock and a bag... and the airing of grievenses and feats of stregth have clear roots in the pagan rights of the orient and Scottland.

Its common knowledge that the first Festivus celebrations were actually in the spring anyway.

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Listen... I know you're all fired up about your cause. I don't particularly care what cause it is. Global Warming... Save the Whales... Poverty... AIDs... Race... Gay Marriage... the NRA... yes this goes for the so-called Right-Wingers too... especially you nimrod charasmatics.

I swear... just listing off the causes makes me want to deepthroat a cattleprod. If it were up to me... we'd round up all these interest groups... these assinine pet causes... and we'd slow cook the folks in charge of them and serve 'em with Au Ju.

You think those folks give a damn about their cause? Oh sure... there may be a handfull of true believers... but they ain't running things. These are money-making outfits. Scams. Take the global warming groups...

They create their own demand by ejecting bullshit on a defensless public... the public, being defenseless and more than a little stupid, buys it... and starts worrying about global warming. And what do you do when you worry? Right! You send someone a check. Good thinking!

NRA? Same deal. They say the boogie man's coming to get our guns... but they sure don't seem to interested in actually defending the second-amendment. Just send the check please.

PETA? Check. Same deal.

Think about it... do you really think Karl Marx believed that crap he wrote all work being equal? He wasn't a fool. He wrote it for you because he knew you were fools. He wasn't planning a Utopia... he was manipulating you. Ya know what else? He did a hulluva job!

And what about you... Mr I-Fall-For-Every-New-Theology-That-Comes-Down-The-Pike? Do you actually think this charasmatic crap is the product of original thought? No no.. its not that its original... its that... this is the way it really used to be... and we're just trying to get back to it... right? You're just fixing everyone else's mistakes. Right.. now remember next month is our special Giving Service.. you should be there because you know... if you don't give, you'll lose your spiritual covering!

What was that I said... oh yeah... Fixing everyone else's mistakes... See? that's what they all have in common.

They're all built to cater to your ego. You're smarter than everyone else because you know we're ruining the earth... or killing all the animals... or the fish.. or worshiping incorrectly... or celebrating the wrong holidays...

Monday, December 18, 2006

A Militant Merry ChristmasI don't know if y'all caught this or not... but its worth highlighting... From Vox Day's column today:

This year I'll be celebrating Christmas by decorating a tree and giving gifts to my loved ones, Hanukkah by taking eight days off work, Festivus by bitching about the Fed's decision to stop reporting M3, Saturnalia by letting Promporn and Sunisa tie me up for a change, and Kwanzaa by holding up the liquor store on Martin Luther King Boulevard using a piece of corn carved into the shape of a Glock 9mm.Now that's funny right there... I don't care who ya are.

Friday, December 15, 2006

ATFTo be honest... at this point in my life... I am happier than I've ever been. But for some reason... tonight I seem drawn a little to the darker side. I read headline after headline... and I find myself thinking more and more about the AR-15 and the numerous 60-round clips close by...

Maybe its just left overs from responding to that email about Go-Time.

ah hell... nothing a little knob creek won't fix. I hope.

I'm working on a short story right now... of course... this has nothing to do with A T or F... ok... it has a lot to do with F... but its certainly not in the tradition of the ATF posts... but I digress. I'm working on this story about a wronged family... that ends up going at it with cops. It would be a lot easier to make it a novel though... but I just don't have the time. I don't think it could ever be a comercial success of course... which is why I'm rolling with the short story deal... because lets face it... do you really think there's a market out there for rutheless premeditated cop-killing? Probly not. We'll probably never know.

If I do follow through with my decision and make it a short story I'll post a work in progress here, and hopefully a finished version... at some point.

On a different topic I thought it would be a good time to give a bit of an update on my new carry gun. The Steyr.

I still love it. No problems at all. The accuracy and reliability top the glocks in the safe. Both of them... in fact they top all of the DOA weapons. The accuracy is on par with my PT-101 which is significantly larger... but the reliability is still an issue. Lets face it... I've shot that Taurus for over a decade trouble free. The Steyr has a ways to go to match that. Even still if I had to call it one way or the other, I would call the weapon proven.

Now... lighter topics... watcha drinkin' tonight? For me... Knob Creek. Oh I know... Everyone has something they like better than Knob Creek. Ya know what else? I don't know of another bourbon that's so high on everyone's list. Maybe its not your number one... but I'll wager its in the top-5 or 6. In a country where 80% of the population can't agree on the date, that's saying something. I don't know, aside from Russel's Reserve, Rare Breed, and Bookers... of a single whiskey that is as consistant as Knob Creek. Every ounce tastes the exact same. I suppose Makers is still better for the money... but it don't stay with you like Knob Creek does.

Speakin' of fine bourbon... Whiskey Girl called me the other day. See... I'm a GOOD brother-in-law. For no reason in particular I bought her a Wild Turkey Rare Breed Gift Set. It came with 750ml and a couple nice tumblers. Well the other day she calls me up... out of the blue.

"Nate... I've got a problem..."

"What's that darlin'?"

"This Rare Breed is really good... and I may have to work tomarrow."

I don't know if you've ever sprung for Rare Breed. If not... For the love of God go now. Its like everything that's good about Russells... but more of it. Sipping a little to much Rare Breed is like having to much sex. You feel it in the morning... but regret is not the right word.

And smokes???

I'm curious for your thoughts on CAO. I like them. They aren't the best... but so what? Does everything have to be the best? They're good cigars. I enjoy them. Sure... Aruto makes some better ones. But that doesn't mean the CAO's aren't good. It just means Arturo makes fantastic cigars. JAC said it the other day.. and I agree... Neither of us has ever had a bad Arturo. I've had bad cuban cohibas... but I've never had a bad Arturo.

What about you pipe guys? Are we still recommending local blends? If so... what do we have to share? There is a blend called Black Cordial... and I'm curious as to its consistancy. I've seen it in jars at several differnt shops in several different towns... but it didn't strike me as the same. There were slight differences. Always awesome... but different.

I'll end this with a very non-traditional ATF question. If the Shit Hit The Fan last Wednesday at 1:30pm... where would you have been? and how would you have handled it? Think about it. Are you prepared?

Thursday, December 14, 2006

A Pagan Holiday?Everyone knows December 25th is actually a pagan holiday that Christians stole.

Right?

After all... Rome celebrated the birth of the Sun on December 25th. That festival dates back to around 270ad when Aurelius created the holiday. But check this out...

The definitive "Handbook of Biblical Chronology" by professor Jack Finegan (Hendrickson, 1998 revised edition) cites an important reference in the "Chronicle" written by Hippolytus of Rome three decades before Aurelian launched his festival. Hippolytus said Jesus' birth "took place eight days before the kalends of January," that is, Dec. 25.So... a beloved roman historian wrote that Jesus was born on Dec 25th... 30 years before the pagan holiday was invented by Aurelius.

Christ's birth has been celebrated on Dec 25th since the 4th century. And the 12 days of Christmas? That's because Epiphany occured on January 6. 12 days after the Birth.

But but but!!! Winter Solstice has been celebrated by pagans for 4000 years!!!!

So what? You think the Jews and Christians of Isreal knew or cared about what the cannible hordes of germany were celebrating? Correlation is not causation people.

So... according to Yahoo! Answers... Christmas is on the 25th because the Roman Catholic Church wanted to compete with the pagan holiday. Someone should really clue those poor dolts in. Christians had been celebrating Christ's birth on the 25th of December for centuries before the Catholic declaration.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Black PrivilageEvery once in a while I make the rounds at some local Nashville blogs. Today I came upon some rant by someone calling herself Aunt B. She was upset about White Privilage... well... This is the Bloggerblaster... we don't do PC here. So how about we have us a little rant the other way?

Black Privilage is...

Being admitted to medical school in favor of whites who scored better on the tests than you did... and made better grades than you did.

Getting the job that you really aren't qualified for.. because after all mommy government says every company has to have so many black folks.

Getting to keep your job... even though you suck at it... you're lazy... and you show attitude to every co-worker you have... beacuse they can't fire you.

Whenever someone doesn't like you... its not because you're a jerk... or anything else about you... its because they're racist.

Always having a scapegoat.

Always having an excuse.

Going to school for free... just because of your skin color.

Being insanely over represented on TV.

A free pass to say blantantly racist things on TV, and not get fired. (Michael Irvin)

Well... that's about all I can think of right now. The comments section is below. Direct your hate mail there. I may even read it.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Damn You Rachael CarsonRaise your hand if you know of the book Silent Spring?

You should.. its the book thats killed more people than any other. And Rachael Carson... is the woman who's killed more people than Stalin, more than Mao, and many times more than Hitler.

What few people realize is that Malaria was controlled in the 1950s. DDT eradicated Malaria in the US and Europe, and was fast doing so in Africa.

Ahh... but dear Rachael needed a career boost... and if that meant killing millions of people... oh well. The environment must be saved!

Just some quick facts:

- 1 african chld dies of malaria every 30 seconds.

- After Malaria cases had increased 1000% South Africa began using DDT again. Cases were reduced by 80% in less than 1 year. Cases are now at an all-time low.

- 1.5 to 2.7 million people die each year of Malaria.

- Children aged one to four are the most vulnerable to infection and death. Malaria is responsible for as many as half the deaths of African children under the age of five. The disease kills more than one million children - 2,800 per day - each year in Africa alone. In regions of intense transmission, 40% of toddlers may die of acute malaria.

- In the early 1960s, only 10% the world's population was at risk of contracting malaria. This rose to 40% as mosquitoes developed resistance to pesticides and malaria parasites developed resistance to treatment drugs. Malaria is now spreading to areas previously free of the disease. None of these mosquitoes are resistant to DDT.

- After 40 years of intense scrutiny, not one case of cancer has been related to DDT.

- If America was affected by Malaria, we'd be using DDT to stop it.

- Alexander King, founder of the Malthusian Club of Rome, who wrote in a biographical essay in 1990, “My chief quarrel with DDT in hindsight is that it has greatly added to the population problem.”

And that last bit... there's where the real doosie lis. Why is it that the Left... which is so hell-bent on ramming ever cause down our throats... lets this one lanquish when the fix is so easily available?

Becasue they don't want it fixed. To them the world's over populated as is... who needs a few million more Africans running around?

You say 10 bucks will put a net over a kid's bed? I say 10 bucks worth of DDT will protect a whole neighborhood for a year... and Mosquitos bite in the day time to ya morons.

Its now universally accepted that Silent Spring was based on shoddy science at best. There was a well known professor who toured the country lecturing on DDT... and before every lecture, he would eat a teaspoon of the stuff... pure. He lived a long and happy life. But isn't it fitting... that the environmental movement... that is so plagued by pathetic attempts at science... was actually started by a book based on crappy science itself?

I'll tell ya what... how about we worry about curing AIDS after we go ahead and handle the much more deadly disease.. that we already know how to stop?

NateMail: Put It In Its Place?There's a downside to having a massively read blog. The people who read it sometimes email you provocative questions to which there are no good answers. Like this one on putting the government in its place:

How? There are so many who are aware of the problem, the travesty, yetnone who offer a solution, to say nothing of action! I don't want you to take it the wrong way, as I'm sure you're notwho's only full of talk. I'm just so tired of it. Tired of being relatively informed and pretty darned upset at the form our Republichas taken, yet not seeing any recourse. What can one do? Vote? Ha!I know you'd never suggest such a thing. Is the answer to simply sit and wait for something to happen? Something so drastic or terrible that it motivates?

Still... you have to try. So here goes...

What is being asked here.. is simply... is it Go Time?

The answer is obviously no... because if the answer was yes, we wouldn't be reading silly things on the net right now... we'd be shooting, looting, hiding, being shot at, blowing things up, and generally having a great time. These things are not happening... so clearly its not Go Time.

Yet.

But when is Go Time? To answer the emailer, we really do need to sit and wait. Its coming... for sure. The dollar is rapidly falling to hell. Big Oil is converting their pricing to Euros. China has made it clear that they are getting out of the dollar. At best, recession is on the way... at worst?

The Fed is screwed. They can't raise rates fast enough to save the dollar... but the low rates are the only finger left in the dam holding back the recession. They're damned if they do and damned if they don't.

Well... ask yourself.. what will President Rhodam's response to a recession be? Tax cuts? Probly not. How do you suppose modern america would react to a socialist mommy-in-chief in the midst of a depression?

Waco almost tore the country apart doing great economic times. What do you think would've happened if people were already pissed?

The key ingredient to the coming of Go Time is a significant economic downturn. Another key ingrediant is a nut case, gun grabbing, certified commie in the white house.

Both are on the way.

Clean your guns. Horde ammo. Pray for Peace. Prepare for War.

But if you're like me... and you've got a family to protect... better investigate in off shore real estate.

Rights?Everything is a right these days. You have a right to health care... a right to education... a right murder your unborn child... and if you believe sports radio... a right to get the NFL Network on basic cable.

How about no.

Rights require no action on the part of others. For example, you have a right to free speach. You can say what you want. This requires nothing of me. You have a right to bear arms. Again... this requires nothing of me. This is basic. The widespread lack of understanding is an indictment on our so called education system.

But imagine if someone decided the Right to Bear Arms meant the government had to provide you with a high quality firearm free of charge. Suppose we had lengthy government studies about what firearm type was the best, and formed massive government agencys to direct the distribution of said firearms?

Well it would be bloody daft wouldn't it?

Strangely enough if there is no Right to Education enumerated within our constitution, but do we not do that very thing?

And what of the Right to Work?

Well... lets examine it. It can only be a right if it doesn't require the action of another. Your right to work obviously requires someone somewhere to hire you. Obviously, its not a right.

Work is not a right. Its a property, a very basic property which is covered by the most precious rights we have... which are property rights. In fact, all of the rights we have are based on property. You have a right to free speach because your thoughts and your words are your own.

So yes... work is property... but its not a right in and of itself. No one is required to buy your property. No one is required to hire you. There is not right to a safe work environment, because that would require someone else to alter the terms by which they purchase your property. Rights, as I said, confer no obligation on others.

There are all sorts of good things out there that are not rights. The government can't be continually expanded to deal with every pet peeve that someone may have. It can't because if it was, we'd all end up living in sterile cages.

Its time to grow up. You don't have a right to be comfortable. You don't have a right to be safe, or happy, or to live in a smoke-free non-offensive environment. God didn't grant you those rights. You have a right to life... but only in so much as you can sustain it for yourself. You want the NFL Network? Go get Direct TV.

Friday, December 08, 2006

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Global Warming and the Liberal God Complex

The Liberal Position on so called "Global Warming" is directly related to their own world view. In their minds... man controls everything. Humans are perfectible and the end all be all of existence. Liberals are in general secular humanists... and there major dogma insists that Man is in fact God. Its just like their view of economies... which in their quaint little minds are best controlled by governments.

Nevermind that the results have been uniformly disastrous.

This attitude... The GodMan syndrome... it makes liberals assume that everything that happens must be because of Man. Much in the same way that the grub eating aboriginees of south America must assume that everything is caused by their many gods. Birds of a feather and all that.

Consider this article, and rock solid case it makes about the lunacy of man-caused global warming. We all know that the middle ages were warmer. Its been accepted forever... until recently when the global warming nutcases realized it made their theory look a little silly. So of course... they just decided to omit it from their studies.

Note this section from the article: I had another interesting experience around the time my paper in Science was published. I received an astonishing email from a major researcher in the area of climate change. He said, "We have to get rid of the Medieval Warm Period." "The Medieval Warm Period (MWP) was a time of unusually warm weather that began around 1000 AD and persisted until a cold period known as the "Little Ice Age" took hold in the 14th century. ... The existence of the MWP had been recognized in the scientific literature for decades. But now it was a major embarrassment to those maintaining that the 20th century warming was truly anomalous. It had to be "gotten rid of." "In 1999, Michael Mann and his colleagues published a reconstruction of past temperature in which the MWP simply vanished. This unique estimate became known as the "hockey stick," because of the shape of the temperature graph. "Normally in science, when you have a novel result that appears to overturn previous work, you have to demonstrate why the earlier work was wrong. But the work of Mann and his colleagues was initially accepted uncritically, even though it contradicted the results of more than 100 previous studies. Other researchers have since reaffirmed that the Medieval Warm Period was both warm and global in its extent.

In a word... ouch.

Its a little assinine to talk about Global Warming when you consider that in 1975 we were warned by these same nut balls about Global Cooling... not to mention the fact that many of our yankee neighbors live in states that were covered by glaciers no so very long ago. There were no SUVs 10,000 years ago... but the world was warming up just fine on its own.

Politics is a Team SportI've talked about this before. You end up rooting for the team you associate with, and because they are your team.. you end up blinded to the evils that they may do. Today though... I'd like to try to expand on this a little.

When I say its a team sport you probably think in terms of two teams competing. In fact.. its just different units of the same team. Its like a football team. You have offense and defense... and they're never on the field at the same time.

The ultimate goal of each is to secure power for themselves... which in actuality means securing power for the government. The Offense, which we'll call the Democrats, is more geared toward openly expanding government as fast as possible.

The Defense... Republicans... they are there to insure that what gains are made, are not lost... and to occasionally pick up a large gain.

Just like football... the biggest turning points usually come from the defense. EPA? No Child Left Behind? The Patriot Acts? All big moves made by the defense.

Some of you are fans of the Defense... some are fans of the offense... but me?

I'm rooting for the other team.

Us.

See that's how it works. There are two sides. The People and The Government. You pick a team. If you're a democrat... or a republican... then you're on the Government's side. If you would use the power of the government to outlaw things that you don't agree with... outside of Common Law... then you are on the government's side.

Would you outlaw homosexuality? If so... you're a bootlicker.

Would you outlaw marijuana? If so... you're a bootlicker.

Would you restrict firearms ownership? If so... you're a bootlicker.

Would you ban smoking? If so... you're a bootlicker.

Would you outlaw racism or sexism? If so... you're a bootlicker.

Think about it. Nationally... if the Dems were in power when the Patriot Act came up before congress... how do you think the average Republican would've felt about it?

He would've hated it... because his team didn't do it. And that is why things like that... things as eggregiously offensive to freemdom as that... have to be handled by the Defense. Because the folks that cheer for the defense have the guns.

See the folks with the guns watch the offense pretty close. If they are gonna start shooting... its gonna be because of something the offense did. But the defense? Why would they start shooting over them? That's their team!

That's the way it works in America boys and girls. Red or Blue. Grab your pom poms and grab your ankles.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Consider This...There has been an average of 160,000 troops in the Iraq theatre of operations during the last 22 months, and a total of 2,112 deaths. That gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000 soldiers.

The firearm death rate in Washington D.C. is 80.6 per 100,000 for the same period.

That means that you are about 25% more likely to be shot and killed in the U.S. Capitol, which has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation, than you are in Iraq.

*** UPDATE ***

in the comments Bill provides a link to a study that shows that 60 per 100,000 is actually the total death rate including all causes. So actually, our soldiers in Iraq are actually safer there than in many major metro areas in the US. Thanks Bill!

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

IslamophobiaOne of the great examples of liberal projection is the way they invent pyschological disorders to describe those who's political, religous, or cultural beliefs differ from their own. I've written at length about the absurdity of the use of the word "homophobia". Well... they just can't help it. They've done it again.

So... those of you who insist that Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords... the Son of God... Its not that you just happen to hold particular religious beliefs. Nope. You're crazy. You must be. You disagree with the liberals.

I do not respect Islam. I do not appreciate the poetry of the Quran. As a Christian I am told to judge by fruits... and Mohammad's fruits are evil and vile. Islam brings torture, poverty, suffering, and death everywhere it goes.

Ya know... I don't know about y'all... but going somewhere the second time is a lot easier for me. Seems like it should be the same deal here. After all... the moon hasn't moved. Its still in the same orbit it was 50 years ago... mostly.

Titanium ain't exotic anymore. We don't use slide rules either.

Sorry. I don't buy it.

Why do we have to spend millions learning about the radiation on the moon... when we've already been there? We should already know... in fact, NASA has been insisting that we've known since way back to the first time they landed up there. They've been doing so to cast doubt on all the skeptics out there who think the whole thing was staged.

Well.. I'll tell ya one thing.. the economics of this don't make sense.

Someone name me one thing.. one technological achievement that is so hard to recreate. Hell... we won't be going back to the moon until 2020. We didn't need that long to figure it out and get it done the first time!

Sorry... read about the mission. Read about the whole thing... how it supposedly happened... read the NASA stories on it. You tell me if you can get through it with a straight face.

Oh.. and one more thing... this initiative was started in 2004. NASA has stated that it will plan to land in 2020. Meaning they need 16 years to plan and execute this mission.

The first mission... which was planned with slide rules and draft boards.... instead of Crays... was planned and executed in 8 years.